Hello Luggers!
I will play the Devil's Advocate here.
Consider, for a moment, that the folloing *HYPOTHETICAL* situation is true.
Microsoft Corp. has been losing market value rapidly(but it still is the
number 1 software company) due to the advancement a much more "stable" and
"secure" operating system called GNU/Linux. Since the GNU/Linux operating
system, licensed under the GPL is completely open source, *anybody* is
allowed to *see* the code. Lets say that Microsoft, to stay at the top,
employs a few developers who are skilled at both GNU/Linux and Windows.
Microsoft, then asks them to write a clone of the linux kernel for
incorporating large chunks of it, maybe even the kernel in its entirety,
into the next version of windows. Since M$ is the still the leader, they
have the highest market share. Now if almost everybody switches to the new
version of windows(based on the linux kernel), they will be in for a
pleasant surprise. They will now get a much more stable and secure OS, which
unknown to them, is running a replica of the linux kernel. This new OS will
please major IT companies, using M$, too, as they will not have scratch
their heads over switching to a more stable operating environment. This will
mean an increasing demand for the now, stable and secure, OS from Microsoft.
Since all patches applied to OSS are open too, M$ can easily incorporate
those into windows update.
M$ in the meanwhile, does NOT disclose to *anyone* the ingredients of
the new OS. Thus M$ keeps making more money, and its market grows, thereby
condemning GNU/Linux to realms of geeks, where it had its humble beginnings.
Since M$ does not disclose source code, there is no way for others(Read
GNU/Linux supporters) to make a claim that the new Windows is a rip off of
the Linux kernel.
My question is, (discounting the ethical and moral concerns as these
cant be counted as legal arguments and assuming that M$ pays enough $$ to
the developers to keep their mouth shut) what
contract/law/clause/license/etc is there right now to prevent M$ from doing
something as dastardly as this?
P.S: i dont think that the GPL can be used at M$ is too smart at code
obfuscation(i think it means obscuring source code) for people to be able to
disassemble their OS and claim it to be a rip-off of linux.
Bhargav Bhatt,
Department of Applied Physics and Applied Mathematics,
Columbia University.
---------------
Is it a co-incidence that Red Hat and Robin Hood share the same initials?
Do masquerading or if u r using proxy open POP3 port
in squid.
rgds
girish
i need suggestion from u, theres some configuration
problem
i h've setup linux 7.3 Redhat with iptables firewall,
n squid
proxy server
now i want to configure sendmail as a mail server for
internal lan
user
the requirement is users from lan should able to send
mails
through windows machine with the help of outlook
express, i
already have a pop3 address for receiving mails from
internet for
example xyz.com, so receiving is not a problem but i
need to
configure my gateway such a way that user from lan
(windows 98 /
2000 + outlook express installed ) should able to send
mails to
anyone from outlook express through gatway.
pls tell me abt this from scratch that how should i
setup sendmail
to do this task, i dont h've any registered domain
name
i h've 64 kbps leased line with static ip n isp dns
if i use mail programme on gateway to send mails to
xyz(a)yahoo.com
it works
now i want same thing should happen from client
machine
i h've done SNAT on some machines
Thanx
Satsonic
__________________________________________________
Do you Yahoo!?
New DSL Internet Access from SBC & Yahoo!
http://sbc.yahoo.com
Do masquerading or if u r using proxy open POP3 port
in squid.
rgds
giris
i need suggestion from u, theres some configuration
problem
i h've setup linux 7.3 Redhat with iptables firewall,
n squid
proxy server
now i want to configure sendmail as a mail server for
internal lan
user
the requirement is users from lan should able to send
mails
through windows machine with the help of outlook
express, i
already have a pop3 address for receiving mails from
internet for
example xyz.com, so receiving is not a problem but i
need to
configure my gateway such a way that user from lan
(windows 98 /
2000 + outlook express installed ) should able to send
mails to
anyone from outlook express through gatway.
pls tell me abt this from scratch that how should i
setup sendmail
to do this task, i dont h've any registered domain
name
i h've 64 kbps leased line with static ip n isp dns
if i use mail programme on gateway to send mails to
xyz(a)yahoo.com
it works
now i want same thing should happen from client
machine
i h've done SNAT on some machines
Thanx
Satsonic
__________________________________________________
Do you Yahoo!?
New DSL Internet Access from SBC & Yahoo!
http://sbc.yahoo.com
More on the anti-Simputer article... Very relevant to the GNU/Linux
debate too. FN
From: "Vinay L Deshpande" <vinay(a)ncoretech.com>
On the India-GII list
Sent: Saturday, September 21, 2002 4:28 PM
Subject: [india-gii] Reply to Scott McCollum on his article on Simputer
Dear Pete:
Thanks for forwarding this to me; it shows me that there ARE people who do
not yet understand what the Simputer really is -- the Trust and we all need
to do more to dispel misconceptions. I do hope my reply to Scott McCollum,
appended below, will help clear his misconceptions.
Best regards,
Vinay
QUOTE
Dear Scott:
Your September 19 article in the World TechTribune
(http://www.worldtechtribune.com/worldtechtribune/asparticles/buzz/bz09192002)
on how the Simputer will NOT bridge the digital divide, has just come to my
attention, and I do feel you should have talked to the developers as well as
some of the actual users, to get a better understanding of the product,
before pontificating about something that you clearly do not understamd.
Typical of some in the developed world to pretend that since they are from
the developed world, they know better than the "natives." Allow me to clear
your misconceptions:
You said, "It's a cheap handheld that runs non standard software which will
not help to bridge the digital divide." First of all, it is not cheap, it is
simply inexpensive. Cheap today signifies low quality, whereas the Simputer
is a high-quality product that uses state-of-the-art technology and
components. Secondly, it is based on very standard software, as it uses the
GNU/Linux operating system, which cannot be termed as non-standard by any
stretch of the imagination, unless your definition of standard is Windows,
WindowsCE, PalmOS, or Symbian. Further, the Information Markup Language
(IML) that has been newly created for the Simputer, is in reality an XML
application, and XML, again, cannot be termed non-standard by any stretch of
the imagination. In fact, Microsoft, whose software you will perhaps agree
is a standard, are promoting XML as an internet standard.
Nevertheless, using the Simputer's SDK, programs can also be written in C,
which is a current standard. Also, J2ME is now available on the Simputer,
and J2ME, you will hopefully agree, is yet another current standard. The
interfaces that the Simputer uses, such as USBn audio, IrDA, and V.90 modem,
are also current standards.
You then say, "by teaching an illiterate nomad how to use a computer that
only other illiterate nomads use, they are not helping to bridge that
digital divide," and "How can anyone honestly expect developing nations to
ever help themselves if the Simputer doesn't actually teach them how the
rest of the world really works?" It is rather presumptuous to think that the
Simputer is only aimed at the illiterate, and further that all illiterates
are nomads. What the Simputer does do, is to enable even illiterates, and
yes, even the nomads among them, to use information technology as a tool to
do things that matter to them, including accessing the internet for
information at least in their own language, which the Simputer speaks to
them using its built-in local-language text-to-speech facility. Admittedly,
since they may not know English which you probably consider the only
standard language, the Simputer may not just yet be able to teach them
everything about how the rest of the world works, as some of that
information content may not currently be available in their local language.
But I dare say that there is a lot of material already available in many
non-English local languages, in India as well as in other developing
countries, which is still accessible to them. This we consider a good first
step in bridging the digital divide. Besides, aren't use of handheld
devices and internet access part of "how the rest of the world works?"
By the way, hunt and peck is also how many in the "rest of the world" work,
but I dare say that the illiterate nomads touching pictorial icons is hardly
hunt-and-peck. In any case, a not-too-distant version of the Simputer will
allow these illiterate nomads to use spoken commands in their own language,
obviating the need for hunt-and-peck.
As for illiterate nomads interacting with other illiterate nomads, aren't
most of the interactions that any individual has, anywhere in the world,
with other individuals in their local area(s)? Local here could mean a
village, town, city, state, or even country. For that matter, it doesn't
seem like you yourself cared to interact with the developers of the
Simputer, half way around the world, to learn the facts about it, before
jumping to your own ill-judged conclusions, so why should you expect the
illiterate nomads to not derive any value by interacting with other
illiterate nomads?
Now, let's talk about applications. True, users must wait for someone to
develop a specialized application and distribute it before they can enjoy
the Simputer. But this is also true of any other standard handheld device
if anyone in the developed world too needs an application that is outside
the standard suite of PIM applications. Yes, a lot of specialized
application software is available on many web sites for the standard
handheld devices currently available in the market, but didn't users of such
devices have to wait when such devices initially appeared, to have them
written by some developer(s) ? Why should the Simputer be any different?
In fact, there is already an army of independent developers, worldwide,
which is creating many innovative applications on the Simputer, for bridging
the digital divide, that have real meaning to the lives of those illiterate
nomads as well as their literate counterparts in the cities and towns in the
developing and developed worlds. One example is a Simputer-based ultrasound
device to help government health workers monitor the health of mother and
foetus among the aboriginal women in the remote villages of Africa where
there is no electricity available for using standard ultrasound diagnostic
equipment used in urban-area clinics or hospitals. That is bridging the
digital divide, by passing on the benefits of modern digital technology to
poor tribals in caring for their health.
You finally say, "the most glaringly obvious problem of the Simputer is
trumpeted as one of its greatest qualities: portability," as such
portability would make the Simputer vulnerable to easy theft. No one can
deny that the human temptation to steal exists among all peoples of the
world, whether they live in developed countries or the developing ones.
Why else would computer stores everywhere, including the developed world, do
brisk business in those lockable tethers which they also use in-store,
attached to laptops and handheld devices on display? The real point that
you seem to have missed, is that by virtue of the smart-card facility, the
Simputer can be shared among a group of persons who can't individually
afford even the low $200 price, while still retaining the privacy of their
data and other information. And because of such shared ownership, there
will be greater care exercised to prevent theft(s). The same would be true
of even Simputers which are placed in a village, say, by the government or
even by "progressives" from the West, which, being community property, will
be jealously guarded by the community! As for the Simputers that would be
in a cyber-cafe-like Simputer Cafe in the village, the owner of the Cafe
will have adequate preventive measures instituted against theft. All this
does not mean that theft will be totally impossible, but it also doesn't
mean that because of the likelihood of theft owing to its portability, the
Simputer is not suited for use by those poor villagers. For that matter,
the same poor villagers possess small, easy-to-carry or -pocket items such
as traditional jewellery, farm implements, utensils, etc., which do once in
a while get stolen, but which they do normally know how to protect from
theft, so why should the Simputer be any different?
I am afraid you do need to educate yourself, Scott.
Best regards,
Vinay Deshpande
Managing Trustee
The Simputer Trust
----- Original Message -----
From: "Andy Oram" <andyo(a)oreilly.com>
To: <india-gii(a)lists.cpsr.org>
Sent: Friday, September 20, 2002 5:38 PM
Subject: [india-gii] Critique of Simputer
> > The following article (which came to me across another
> > mailing list) is worth reading carefully. It would be easy
> > to sneer at. ("You're doing nobody a favor by giving them a
> > graphical interface and a mouse. They've got to learn
> > command-line utilities like everybody else.") The arguments
> > are not presented as well as they could be, in my
> > opinion. But there are several cogent arguments, somewhat
> > hidden.
> >
> > SIMPUTERS: WHEN TECHNOLOGY DOES _NOT_ BRIDGE THE DIGITAL DIVIDE
> > [SOURCE: World Tech Tribune, AUTHOR: Scott McCollum]
http://www.worldtechtribune.com/worldtechtribune/asparticles/buzz/bz0919200…
> > I would rephrase--and answer--McCollum's objections as
> > follows:
> >
> > 1. Because the Simputer must use non-standard interfaces and
> > applications, users must wait for someone to develop a
> > specialized application and distribute it before they can
> > enjoy it.
> >
> > Answer: this limitation sets the bar somewhat higher than
> > other devices, but other users also need, for the most
> > part, to wait for someone to develop a service or web
> > site with the material they want. But even limited to
> > Simputers, a county government or local business that
> > sees a need could hire a programmer to code up an
> > application and put it on a smart card. The barrier is
> > still pretty low.
> >
> > 2. Simputer applications allow Simputer users to talk to
> > each other. But there's a much wider world they need
> > access to.
> >
> > Answer: A lot of research suggests that local
> > interactions are more common than remote ones. For
> > instance, people on a company LAN or extended network
> > tend exchange more interactions with each other than with
> > people out on the Internet. Universal access by a
> > community to each other's systems is probably of greater
> > interest than access to the outside. Nevertheless,
> > gateways to selected outside services could be designed.
> >
> > 3. The Simputer traps users in baby interfaces, so they'll
> > never grow into interfaces other people can use.
> >
> > Answer: design a teaching tool that uses the Simputer to
> > help people learn more complex systems.
> >
> > 4. Technology cannot be introduced in a vacuum. A social
> > infrastructure is needed. Thus, introducing $200
> > Simputers into poor areas will just lead to theft.
> >
> > Answer: This is actually a sophisticated
> > argument. Infrastructure is indeed necessary. But if
> > somebody thinks a Simputer worth stealing, it has proven
> > its value. People in poor areas have other small,
> > valuable objects and possess the street smarts to protect
> > them.
> >
> > ----------------------------------------------------------------------
> > Andy Oram O'Reilly & Associates, Inc. email: andyo(a)oreilly.com
> > Editor 90 Sherman Street voice: 617-499-7479
> > Cambridge, MA 02140-3233 fax: 617-661-1116
> > USA http://www.oreilly.com/~andyo/
> > Stories at Web site:
> > The Bug in the Seven Modules Code the Obscure The Disconnected
> > ----------------------------------------------------------------------
> > ___________________________
> > Computer Professionals for Social Responsibility (CPSR)
> > is the oldest non-profit, mass membership organization
> > working on social impacts of computer technolo,
hi,
M$ has only fooled few people. It's only that thoose who have been conned
do not know that have been conned.
A strategy like this is very difficult/impossible due to the
architectural differences between windows and linux.
BTW do you think that Bill Gate's/M$'s ego will let him do that? or is
money more important than the ego??
There have been some attempts to bridge the gap between the
applications(eg Lindows.com which runs both M$ and linux apps)
:-) ciao
Vinayak Hegde
__________________________________________________________________________
http://dating.zeenext.com Log on to nextDATE. It's the next best thing to doing it.
lilo(a)zeenext.com wrote
>The Internal CodeName for Windows XP was "Cairo". In Greek "Chi"
>is written as "X" and Rho as "P" (well roughly). Hence XP in
>Windows XP is for Cairo and not X from Xwindows or MacOS.
ummm.. interesting information. Now all we gotta do is find a connection between Cairo, the greek language and Micro$oft. It is of course very circumstantial that windowsXP which came after macOSX both have a greater thrust on eye-candy interface and of course the fact that the latest of X can compete with any of the above in the eye-candy aspect. Three windowing systems with X somewhere in their names - now that is something... :-D
BTW what seems to be the motivation for these esoteric "internal codenames" which seem to be the norm of the industry..?
quasi
> M$ already was inspired by the Mac OS X & the various good looking
> managers
> on X to name the last windows with an 'X' in it. :-)
>
> quasi
The Internal CodeName for Windows XP was "Cairo". In Greek "Chi"
is written as "X" and Rho as "P" (well roughly). Hence XP in
Windows XP is for Cairo and not X from Xwindows or MacOS.
:-) ciao
Vinayak Hegde
__________________________________________________________________________
http://dating.zeenext.com Log on to nextDATE. It's the next best thing to doing it.
At 12:30 even 9/26/02 +0530, N Joshibaba wrote:
>but the kernel architecture (monolithic / macrolithic / hybrid (?)) of
>Windows and Linux is different right ? Also there is difference between
>Windows 9x and NT kernel
>
>AFAIK Linux kernel was written keeping in mind POSIX nd I guess POSIX nd
>Windows don't go together
AFAIK POSIX is an standard. M$ has full right to be compliant, *if* it so
wants to.
>Also I think you are assuming that Linux is the *best* kernel available
>(BTW what happened to HURD ?) which arguably is not the case
right, IMHO. GNU/Linux is the best choice due to its 'open' & 'free'
nature. It is under constant and heavy development and one day (soon) may
become the best. Stallman wants HURD to be in, but I think it lacks the
developer following that Linux has.
>I've seem ppl on Usenet (Microsoft Developers well versed with GNU/Linux)
>refer to Windows 2000 with reverence. I too think that Microsoft did come
>up with something 'stable' with
>Windows 2000.
Win2K is indeed stable. And, I suppose, a good secure OS to have if one
does not mind paying the big bucks and wants professional technical
support. The last truly useless piece of junk from M$ was windows95. Even
windows98SE is quiet stable (though not as efficient as GNU/Linux and of
course completely insecure).
>I mean when I look at Windows Xp ; it iz a hybrid of Win 9x and Windows
>2000 right?
Modified & improved Win ME interface on top of NT kernel. It is all
eye-candy than genuine performance improvements, I suppose.
M$ already was inspired by the Mac OS X & the various good looking managers
on X to name the last windows with an 'X' in it. :-)
quasi
HSC pass, too!
'-)
The VP of RH talks to the register about RH future plans.
Thankfully though they have no plans to replace Redmond with redhat
http://www.theregister.co.uk/content/4/27289.html
Also there is an article in the Times that LG is planning
to sell PCs preloaded with Linux. Also if I remember right
there was an AD by compaq (again in the Times sometime back)
which showcased two PCs one running Linux and the other windows
Both the configs were the same but there was a price difference of
nearly rs.7000/- between them.
:-) ciao
Vinayak Hegde
__________________________________________________________________________
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